The Food Chain - What's Eating What Radio

Slave labor was cheap, but then it became very expensive. Illegal immigrant labor is cheap, but it, too, is becoming very expensive. The cost of cheap labor leads us to ask…

Our daily bread travels an average of 2,000 miles on oil provided by those who simply do not like us. This leads us to ask, "Can we turn our grass into gas?" Topics include the difference between grain (or corn) ethanol and cellulosic (or biomass) ethano

“Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get,” said Mark Twain. But when it comes to observing today’s climate in order to predict next year’s weather, The Old Farmer’s Almanac is most always 80% right. This leads us

California has elected to reduce its carbon emissions by up to 30% beginning in 2012. This decision has sparked a stampede to figure out how, which leads us to ask….

Guest: Bryce Bauer, author of Gentlemen Bootleggers

Sixteen trillion dollars of debt! Flash mobs of rioters! A clash of civilizations! The shifting sands of our Modern Times lead us to ask…

We build up our farms, gardens and homes to suit our needs, then they sneak in and steal. Their unrelenting assault leads us to ask…

While purchasing a cup of coffee from the booth at my local farmers market, I noticed that the proprietors, a husband and wife team of smiling seniors, were also selling world peace. And so I ask…

USDA commissioned a study group, called AC21, to determine how genetically-modified crops could best co-exist with organic crops. This Rodney King effort leads us to ask…

With a simple forked stick, the dowser called 30 gallons per minute of flowing water at 365 feet, which was about exactly where the well-driller found it. That call leads us to once again ask…

Topics include the fundamental strategy for successful metropolitan farming; which crops are most appropriate, and most profitable; and a look a successful metropolitan farms. Guest: Michael Olson, Author, MetroFarm & Host of Food Chain Radio Sho

When government confiscates preschoolers’ lunches, bans private food vendors from school grounds, and funds 5 meals per day at local elementary schools, we simply must ask…

When the Cuban government allowed for free farmers markets, citizens got food and farmers earned money. Now Cuba is shutting the markets down, which leads us to ask…

“All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” If what Napolean suggests in Orwell’s Animal Farm is true, we wonder…

We have poisoned 39,000 of our pets by feeding them commercial pet food from 100 different companies. This leads one to ask, “What’s in the food?” Topics include why so many pets came to be poisoned by so many pet food companies at one

The Supreme Court has upheld Arizona’s law penalizing businesses that hire illegal immigrants. Georgia has passed a similar law, and other states are lining up to do the same. This leads us to ask…

A few decades ago, we lived with the animals we ate; today, the animals we live with are pets, and the animals we eat live in giant factories thousands of miles away. This leads us to ask…

Topics include how ke-tsup became ketchup; why a bird native to Mexico was named after a Muslim country in the Meditteranean; and how words are used to sell menu items. Guests:Dan Jurasky, Author of The Language of Food

Topics include a look at the trends of local and distant foods; the apparent conflict between proponents of local and distant foods, and whether local or distant food is economically most efficient.

The giants of industrial agriculture saw the light and became organic. To determine how organic they became, the government audited its National Organic Program. This audit leads us to ask…

Topics include why San Francisco elected to encourage urban agriculture; what steps the city is taking to encourage urban farms and farmers; and what changes the city hopes to affect on its landscape and its residents. Guests: San Francisco Superviso

As we move from an economy fueled by hydrocarbons to one fueled by carbohydrates we pause to ask: “Which will come first, food or fuel?” Topics include the extent to which natural resources are being diverted from food to energy production;

When times get tough, the tough get growing… gardens. From the trenches of World War I, to the Warsaw ghetto and Japanese internment camps of World War II, to the desert sands of Iraq, individuals have turned ruin into garden. And so we ask…

They turned off the water to the San Joaquin Valley, putting hundreds of thousands of acres and tens of thousands of people out of work. Now they are challenging Sacramento Valley water contracts dating back to the 1880s. Their work on behalf of endange

Some say they are too young to work and must be protected with federal legislation until they grow up; others suggest if they are deprived of that work they may never grow up. And so we ask…